Carrying Over Yeast Question

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Gilbey

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Since I got back into homebrewing earlier this year I have been carrying over yeast. I use a technique I learned on this forum whereby after I rack to my secondary fermenter I bottle the drub at the bottom of the primary in 22 ounce bottles. I cap them and store them in the fridge until I need one. When I do, I make a starter in a growler and pitch when my wort is cool enough. I have been extra careful with sanitation (I think) and so far so good. I have been carrying over a 1056 American Ale for several batches/generations, and the results have been great....very consistent fermantation, flavor, etc.

The other night I went to prepare a starter. As usual I took one of my 22 ounce bottles out of the fridge and let it come up to room temp while I prepared the starter and cooled it down to temp. I sanitized the 22 ounce bottle and the opener and popped the top, and ......wooooooaahhhhhhh....GUSHER!?!?!?! She blew all over the sanitized sink! That has not happened before??? There was no off smell, and the beer sitting on top of the yeast in the bottle before I opened it was clear a can be. Do you think this was a contamination???? Or did I perhaps just bottle it too early with too much fermentable sugar left????

What do you think?

Thanks!

Gilbey
 
It sounds like there were a few too many fermentables left in there when you bottled.

I've only just started trying to carry over some Belgian Wit yeast - I transfered the trub into two sterilised 1 Litre bottles and put them in the fridge - even with the cold temps, they continued to ferment away and I had to vent the pressure a couple of times.

Hopefully they will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks until I'm ready for my next batch of Wheat beer

80/-
 
I cap my 22 ounce bottles.....how do you guys "vent" yours????
 
what do you normally use to store the carried over yeast? I was thinking about picking up a couple of jars from morebeer (http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=16577). I assume i could just create a starter, pour it in the jar with the carried over yeast and cover with sanitized tin foil and pitch when needed.

Is there something simpler I can use (I do not plan on bottleing my beers, only keging them for now)
 
Gilbey said:
The other night I went to prepare a starter. As usual I took one of my 22 ounce bottles out of the fridge and let it come up to room temp while I prepared the starter and cooled it down to temp. I sanitized the 22 ounce bottle and the opener and popped the top, and ......wooooooaahhhhhhh....GUSHER!?!?!?! She blew all over the sanitized sink! That has not happened before??? There was no off smell, and the beer sitting on top of the yeast in the bottle before I opened it was clear a can be. Do you think this was a contamination???? Or did I perhaps just bottle it too early with too much fermentable sugar left????

I do almost exactly what you do for storing my yeast. I only do about 3 kinds, but 1056 is the worst for doing this. The british yeasts don't do this hardly at all. I'll vent my capped 1056 bottles about once a week for about a month or until I use the bottle. Just take a bottle opener and barely lift the edge until you hear a hiss. You shouldn't have to deform the cap at all to vent the bottle.

Prosit!
 
Thanks for the tips....I will try venting those I have in my fridge now.

swh - I am by no means an expert, but I collect my yeast from the bottom of my primary after I rack off the beer into my secondary. I siphon it into clean and sanitized 22 ounce beer bottles.....usually I get about three bottles filled about 3/4 of the way up. I prepare my starters in 1/2 gallon growlers with a drilled stopper and a fermentation lock.

I am sure there are lots of ways to do it, and probably BETTER ways, but this works for me.

Gilbey
 
I've even had white labs vial gush on me twice. I now loosen the cap before it starts to warm up. If it is a saved batch of slurry in a bottle I'll open it up while cool and drape a wet iodophor paper towel over it until ready to pitch.
 
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